Unfortunately, I don’t have a location on this great photo of the Pullman Diner. The caption on the back indicates that the car is new, which helps date the photo. Take note of the “Eat” neon, and the signs for coke and bell telephone. The Pullman was a converted train car.
I ate lunch here today. Double cheeseburger, with really good fresh beef, with a perfect crust on the edges that can only come from a good flat top grill and a talented grillwoman. Two slices of cheese, pickles, mustard and fried onions, all on a fresh baked roll. Served on vintage green line Buffalo china. Perfection. If you’re in Dundalk, take a side trip, and pull up a stool (carry-out is overrated- you don’t get the local color or conversation). I highly recommend it.
2102 Merritt Avenue
Dundalk, MD
Halifax, Nova Scotia based artist Agela Carlsen is taking a six month roadtrip tour of the United States. She’s traveling around in “The Barter Van” and the trip is, as she puts it ” all about art, traveling and the vandwelling lifestyle”.
In Halifax, we were acquaintances. I liked her art, and we lived a few blocks apart and would run into each other on the street. I moved back from Halifax to Maryland a few months ago and couple of weeks ago, Angela sold her worldly possessions and moved into her big white Dodge, headed South. You can, and should, read about her adventures so far on her blog, The Barter Van.
Long story short, I invited her down to scenic Maryland to explore DC, Baltimore and the sights in between.
Van at the house
We had breakfast Tuesday at the Sunshine Store in Sunshine, MD. I’ve posted about it before, it’s close to the house and a true hidden roadside gem. Located in the back of an old gas station/general store, the Sunshine serves up some of the best breakfasts and burgers going. It’s small, just a couple stools and two old kitchen tables inside, and driving buy, unless you knew, you’d never give it a second glance. But boy, does it have great food, people and heaps of character. Angela tried scrapple for the first time and was very polite about it.
We took the metro to downtown Washington DC to do see the sights, starting with the Museum of Natural History.
Here’s one of the butterflies from their current exhibit. Such beautiful colors in the butterflies. You enter as tour groups to the butterfly chamber, filled with hundreds of butterflies. We couldn’t believe how quickly many of the people cycle through. Why is everyone always in such a hurry?
We had lunch at Lincoln’s Waffle Shop. Chicken and waffles, a Salmoln Cake and waffles, and a great chat with the son of the owners, who has been working there since ’95. We lamented the passing of the former location, a couple doors down the block, now sitting gutted and vacant.
Then on to the American History museum.
Inside the dollhouse on the third floor.
And here’s what it’s all about- America on the move.
Day 2
We spent Wednesday at the American Visionary Art Museum. If you’re in Maryland, it’s a must see attraction. Art with whimsy, life, and passion. Thoroughly interesting, thought provoking and unstuffy.
Lunch at the Cross Street Market. Pork bulgogi tacos from Pop Tacos. Fusion cuisine at its most delicious, and least pretentious.
Some good neon also in the market.
Took the long way back on Rt. 1 to do some neon sightseeing. Lots of signs have gone missing in the past couple of years, but still enough to be interesting.
We had a fantastic time, and between Halifax, art and Americana had a lot to discuss. You couldn’t ask for a better houseguest or a more fun traveler. Her next leg of the trip is to MO to catch up with Rt. 66 to start the great trek westward. Check in with her site for her progress, and if anyone has any suggestions, comments, or would like to help her out by bartering or donating to her trip, she’d love to hear from you.
Hill’s Seafood. 3605 West Chester Pike Newtown Square, PA
Angelo’s Glassboro Diner
26 North Main Street Glassboro, NJ 08028
The initial picture doesn’t look like a factory job, but the design’s definitely taking some cues from the real deal.
Looks like it’s still there under layers of remodeling, in Steelton, PA, operating as TJ’s East End Pub.
Bridgeville, Delaware. Taken by my friend Rita Cacas in 1980.
This postcard sold on eBay back in 2007. After a bit of research at that point, it looked like the diner was still there. But this was pre-blog, pre-facebook, so I made a note of it, burned the ebay image to a disc and pretty well forgot about it. I was going through today looking for barrel roof pics on my external hard drive and found the photo again. Not the best copy of it, unfortunately, but it’s the only one I’ve seen of this PC. The diner is still there, as is the gas station building, located at 3403 Conowingo Road. It looks like the cabins are gone.
Unfortunately it’s not a “real” diner, but you can definitely see the influence.
Nick’s Diner may not be a “true” diner to purists. It’s an on site job, but it has real soul.
I’ve had some trouble finding the origins of Nick’s. It’s been a diner for decades, but whether it was converted from another use is hard to track down. The materials and construction remind me of a ’50s gas station, but the proportions seem way off for that. Across the street from a former HoJo’s, a block down from an A-Frame IHOP and two blocks down from the former Short Stop Diner.
It’s family owned an operated, and the grill is still behind the counter. There’s a bit of a back kitchen, but it looks like most of the cooking is done out front.
Nick’s is set up like an early factory model. Very narrow- mostly stools and a couple tables at the far end. The emphasis is truly on the counter, as it should be. The nearly floor to ceiling glass makes for a nice bright place.
Corned beef hash, scrambled eggs, homefries, toast, coffee. The potatoes and corned beef hash have a perfect crust on them from the griddle.
Stools.
A pic from about a decade back that gives a better view of the entire diner. The parking lot was too jammed today to get a good frontal shot.
Diner Hunter 